


The Wolves of Revenge

by CheezBri



Series: The Wolves of Revenge [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Tragedy, Animal Transformation, Battle, Best Friends, Betrayal, Dark, Dark Fantasy, Death, Dragons, Dwarves, Familiars, Fantasy, Fighting, Half-Human, Half-Werewolf, High School, Humor, Learning to Fight, Magic, Minor Character Death, Modern Fantasy, Multi, Multiple Couples, Mythology - Freeform, Nymphs - Freeform, Original Character Death(s), Reincarnation, Revenge, Rewriting Mythology, Teenagers, Tragedy, Urban Fantasy, Warlocks, Werewolves, Witches, Wizards, fae, friends - Freeform, hidden identity, hidden past, other creatures, sphinx
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-10 19:58:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8936950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheezBri/pseuds/CheezBri
Summary: Jessica never expected her life to turn out any different from anyone else's. She would graduate high school, do just as they do, and die the same, never making an impact on the world, despite her wish to be different.Then she discovers the truth about her family and her best friend, Luke.Her father and him are werewolves. She is a half werewolf, a lethum, something different.And being different is a mistake.Before she knows it Jessica is thrown into the world of countless creatures dismissed as myths. She discovers an organisation, the Wolves of Revenge, led by a person deemed the evillest witch in the world. Their goal?To eradicate all lethums.With her family and friends Jessica's focus becomes surviving every day. But she can't help the feeling there is something more the Wolves of Revenge want than to kill her. Fighting has dire consequences, though, and she is about to feel the full force of what a magical organisation bent on her death can do.Not all the fairy tales you hear are true.Not all monsters are fearsome.Sometimes the true terror is a person you'd never expect.And the fairy tales you didn't hear of cause the most pain.





	1. The End of the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this story for a very long time. I believe this is my fifth or sixth draft of the story.
> 
> Please leave a comment about what you think of this story, and any improvements you believe could be helpful to me.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

It’s already come to this. This is the end. Everything is lost.

            I know this, but I keep running, fighting the urge to stop and give up. To let them destroy me. I need to fight to my last moment, through the guilt slowing me down. There is no other option.

            A bullet slams into the building on my right, sending shards of brick flying. I ignore the scattering pieces and keep going down the narrowing alleyway. What was supposed to be a regular trip into the heart of the city has turned into something much more sinister. The familiar skyscrapers and shops are now dark and cold.

             _Faster, faster_ ; a steady mantra in my head. Another bullet grazes my arm, causing it to bleed sluggishly. I can’t feel it—I’ve lost too much this night for physical pain to slow me down.

            They’re closer now. I can hear their footsteps right behind me. My legs are heavy. Is it because I’m tired or is it because all those who sacrificed themselves are angry at me for failing? Are they dragging me down from another world? But they knew we had no real hope. How could we win against _them_? The odds were against us when we decided to fight—no, from the moment I was born it was the end. We never had a chance. I never had a chance.

            I hit a dead end. Dark apartment buildings surround me, full of people peacefully sleeping, unaware of the danger right outside their windows. I consider waiting for my pursuers, to face them—one last courageous but stupid stand—but the human nature of survival wins out and I climb the fire escape to the roof of a tall complex.

            The storm has turned from dark clouds in the distance to a pitch-black mass laying over the entire town. Has she made it worse with her magic? Was she capable of such a thing?

They’ve stopped pursuing me from below on the street. That means she is coming. It all ends here whether I want it to or not. For now, at least.

            “How courageous,” she says, her voice coming from everywhere in the storm, encompassing me in her sickly sweet accent. Her tone can’t disguise her loathing of me, of my kind. It sends thousands of bugs crawling under my skin, “To come this far, but to still fail when it matters most,” she laughs. “Just as it should be.”

            I try to keep my voice from shaking, “You know I will have another chance. And if she fails—another.”

            “Until I get what I want. There will always be another chance… for me. And I will succeed,” she responds untroubled and confident.

            I stay silent. Can I claim false hope while I face my death? In this situation, to do so makes me feel arrogant. I’ve come so far, led so many people to their deaths, only be presented with mine. Will we ever succeed when each one of us has met our end by her or her minions’ hands?

            She laughs, and the sound echoes around me, “No heroic statements now? I must say, you were my favourite so far. Your little battle phrases were fun to listen to. I wonder if the next will be as entertaining. Maybe I can slip the sayings I liked into her house. Such as the one you said a few weeks ago, ‘Witches always fall!’ or ‘I’ve lived this many times just to make sure I can see your end in _this_ life!’ Oh, I can’t wait!” she exclaims, like a kid just told they were going to Disneyland.

            I flinch. This woman, this witch, is pure evil. She will always seek a way to destroy me. She will never give up, no matter what.

            But neither would I.

            “Just wait, witch,” strength returns to my voice, making it fiercer. “One day someone will come and kill you, and you will have grown so complacent and fat in your stronghold you will not hold enough power to fight.”

            She makes no answer.

            I continue, clenching my hands into tight fists, “Someday it will happen. I swear by my own recurring life and the souls of everyone who has fought, and will fight, that you will be defeated.”

            Now she made an answer, “And who, pray tell, do you think will carry out this?”

            I pause. I’ve failed without a doubt. Who wouldn’t? “I don’t know. And I don’t care. Whether by my own hand or through someone else’s, you and your followers will see the end of their days!” I feel a tear on my face but I keep my voice firm. It has to happen. It _must_ happen. If we keep failing the world will fall into darkness. It will be destroyed. I start to pray silently. _Someone, please. Please end her once and for all, all of her organisation._ It may be a pointless prayer but it is the last one I have left.

            “Let’s end this, shall we?” she says.

            I stand tall against the strong winds. I will not cower. As my last act of defiance, I will not give in. I still have a couple aces up my sleeve that will help me face this demon now, and the next time. I may still hold a chance, even if it may not be for this moment.

            “Oh, I forgot to mention something,” she pauses.

            I mentally groan. What can she say now? What can she tell me that could be so important to stop her from killing me? Or was she baiting me? Well, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

            “You enjoy books, yes?” She doesn’t wait for answer, as if I would give her one. “I recently found a book made of old leather. Does that interest you?”

            I can’t stop my automatic cringe. Could she be talking about _that_ book? No, I had it hidden away. She couldn’t have found it.

            “What is special about this book, though, is that I can’t open it. I wonder why that is?”

            I tremble. She had found it. She had found _my_ book. But how? I thought I had hidden it so well. Who led her to it? How?

            “It was quite a struggle to get someone to follow you into your ‘safe house’. Very hard getting in it,” she mused.

            “No,” I whisper. How many more people must I add to my count of deaths?

            “We have your book and, soon enough, we will get it open.”

            My world is falling apart more than I ever thought possible. The darkness my life has become is splitting at its seams, opening into an endless abyss. I am falling into it slowly; my world would soon be gone. I began to accept my death.

            One thought fills my mind, though, keeping me from total darkness for the time being. _At least she isn’t able to open the book_. At least all the memories would remain untouched. She wouldn’t have something to give her another advantage. That would help. The Next would get the book back, she had to.

            My voice echoes in the darkness, with more confidence than I possess, “I will return. And when I do, I will make you fall.”

            She laughs, “Another statement to add to my list. However, I hold all the cards in this last game. Until we meet again, dear Jessica.”

            I surrender myself to the dark abyss in despair. This was the last chance, the last roll of the dice, and nothing was in my favour. Only a miracle would let me survive another round. And those come in short supply.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick warning for now and the future: My chapters are usually long.
> 
> Again, please comment with helpful tips! Or compliments. Cause everyone is a sucker for those :)

Jessica woke up screaming. She bolted straight up in bed, covered in a cold sweat, eyes opened wide, mouth agape. She blinked hard and focused her eyes onto the wall with considerable effort. _What was up with that dream?_ It was by far the strangest and most lifelike dream she had ever experienced. Why did she even have that kind of dream? She had experienced no life threatening situation like what she witnessed, or any, period. So where had it come from? The subconscious made dreams right? 

            She trembled and pulled her blankets around her. The cold from the nightmare left her chilled to the bone. She rubbed her arms but it wouldn’t go away; tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t find the will. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was that blackness surrounding her, hear that eerie laugh. That dream—that nightmare—had left her haunted. 

            Shivering, she got up, draped a blanket around her shoulders, walked over to the window and pulled back her dark curtains to look at the sky, hoping to find marginal comfort in the stars. A constant but mysterious presence.

            As the curtains settled to the side a black cloud swept over her. It was insubstantial, like a murky fog. She screamed, an intense cold, the same as the one in her vision, filled the room, making her skin freeze. Following the dark clouds with her eyes as they swept across the ceiling she spun from the window. On the other side of her small room they formed into the shape of a woman, or at least a rough outline of one. Eyes blinked opened to reveal a glowing demonic red. Those eyes seemed to stare right into her soul, searching for something, anything. It became hard to hold onto her blanket and she stumbled back a few steps. What was happening? Was this thing a monster unheard of in any tales? What would it to do to her?

            Then the dark apparition spoke in a disembodied, deep voice, “We are coming.”

            Darkness overtook the room and Jessica fainted.

 

That morning Jessica woke to the annoying glare of the sun. She groaned and covered her face with her pillow. Except there wasn’t any pillow when she reached for it. That didn’t make sense. _What? Where’s my pillow? It should be under my head, right?_ Dazed, she forced open her eyes, her mind an incoherent mess. Where was it? Where was she? She brushed her wild dark hair from her eyes and looked around.

            Well she lay in her room, which was a good thing. But she lay on the floor. Why? And it wasn’t comfortable, either. She had fallen asleep on old dishes and clothes; _I really need to clean_. Her bed was at least five feet away, in its proper place against the wall—so she hadn’t rolled off during the night. And her wide open forest green curtains lay opened, letting in weak start-of-the-day light, which had woken her. That was _weird._ Jessica didn’t remember opening them. In fact, she distinctly remembered closing them as she did every night. Maybe she slept walked last night? But she hadn’t done that before in her life. So what had happened?

            She lay there pondering when her phone buzzed, loud in the early morning quiet, and halfway stopping her confusion for the moment. Walking over—well crawl-walking—to her desk she rummaged through the remains of last night’s homework to find her phone.

            “Hello?” she answered, her voice coming out gruff and hoarse. She cleared her throat and tried again, “Hello?”

            “Hey, Jess!” boomed a voice so loud it made Jessica wince and pull the phone away from her ear as a reflex to the sudden noise.

            After a few seconds of silence to make sure the loud voice, belonging to her friend, had stopped, she put the phone back to her ear, “Hey, Mark. What’s up?”

            “Dude, did you only now get up?” he asked in a surprised voice.

            “Uh, yeah. So?”

            “School starts in fifteen minutes, girl! Luke and I have been waiting outside your house _forever_!”

            “What? What are you talking about? That can’t be right,” she mumbled. She looked at the time on her radio. 7:45. School started at 8. “Holy crap!” she shouted. “I’ll be right there, Mark! Wait for me! Don’t you dare leave! I mean it!”

            Jessica hung up on her friend’s laughter. She dashed through her room, throwing on a pair of most-likely-fresh clothes, shoved books and paper into her bag, ran a brush through her hair a couple times, and grabbed her phone from where she had dropped it. Then she rushed down the stairs and out the door calling a quick goodbye to her parents eating breakfast in the kitchen.

            Luke and Mark sat parked right on her driveway. As Jessica looked at Luke’s old red car, dubbed “Molly”, she again pondered on how she didn’t understand why boys felt the need to name their cars. They’d get a new one, right? _Gosh, this is turning out to be a weird morning, to be having these kinds of thoughts so early. What is_ wrong _with me?_ Shaking her head, she yanked open the red passenger door where Mark sat, looking at her. She gave him her best death glare until he got out a minute later.

             “When are you going to try getting in by squeezing through the crack, Jess?” Mark teased her as she pushed the passenger chair forward and slid into the backseat. He had been doing that every day for the past month and only her well-praised stare would make him move—and after a couple minutes— even if they were almost late.

              “I may be flexible, Mark, but no human being can fit through the slit between the door and chair on _any_ two-door car,” Jessica replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked over to see Luke smiling at the two of them arguing early in the morning, as if it wasn’t a daily occurrence. Their eyes met and she smiled back at him. His eyes traveled to her hair.

              “My god, Jessica. Did you let a bird build a nest in your hair last night?” he asked.

              “What? No! I brushed it this morn…” she patted her head frantically and glanced in the rear-view mirror. Her hair looked fine. “Why you,” her voice low and dangerous.

               Luke burst out laughing and Jessica seethed. He knew she had horrible bed hair and was over conscientious of it. He was driving so she couldn’t get her revenge now, but she would. _Just wait, Luke,_ she growled in her head.

               They reached the red brick school building two minutes before classes started. Panicked, they raced to their separate classrooms, Luke well ahead of them both, and Jessica a few feet ahead of Mark—the result of Luke and Jessica doing track. Luke still participated, while Jessica only did in middle school, and Mark deciding not to join them at all. The three had different classes in the morning, but Jessica shared her first class with her friend Jane, so she had someone to talk to and to cover for her if she ended up late, unlike the boys. Which was the only thing on her mind at the moment.

                She slid into her desk right as the bell rang and her teacher turned around from where she had been writing on the board. Jessica breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close call.

                “You _just_ made it,” whispered a voice next to her.

                Jessica turned to face her friend Jane, flaming red hair burning with too much energy for the start of the morning. She shielded her eyes and faked pain, “Ah, it burns! Turn it down will you?”

                “Ha, ha, ha very funny. Do you have to do that every day?” Jane responded, with a touch of annoyance in her voice.

                Jessica uncovered her eyes and pouted, “How else am I supposed to greet my friend the ginger? I’m hoping that if you learn how to control your hair color you’ll develop a soul.” She grinned wide to show she was joking. But before Jane could reply with something even more snarky the teacher called them to attention and began class.

                Almost all at once Jessica lost focus. Now, it wasn’t as if she never paid attention in class, she was a rather good student, but this class bored her to death. If there was an award for the most boring class ever, this teacher would hold the highest number.

                The name; “21st Century Research”. As the name suggested it was all about how to research on the web and in textbooks. There were just a _few_ problems with it though.

  1. The teacher was old as the dinosaurs and didn’t know how to use a computer
  2. They were seniors in high school
  3. In relation to the above fact, they had already done an incredible amount of research papers through middle school and high school.
  4. They finished senior projects a couple months ago, which required an insane amount of research.
  5. The teacher was crazy
  6. The teacher treated them like elementary kids
  7. Their assignments comprised of nothing other than busy work
  8. The teacher was crazy— _wait didn’t I say that_?



                Jessica shook herself from her thoughts. She had to endure this class for a few months more. Then she was out of here. Free from the annoying busy work and the crazy teacher whose small talk was about cats and “how to improve yourself”. Just a few months and she never had to talk about those two things in the same sentence again. _There goes the senioritis again,_ she laughed to herself and returned to spacing out.

                Around the halfway mark of class her mind wandered back to the reason she had been on the floor this morning with the curtains opened. Why had she woke up like that? She had never caught herself sleep walking before—could you?—or rolling off her bed for no reason. And if she had, she was pretty sure she would have stopped considering the dull ache prominent in her back ever since she woke up. Did she have a dream or something and that caused her to be on the floor? She couldn’t remember, but she had never been good at recalling dreams.

                Suddenly, Jessica felt a cold shiver go down her spine making her hair stand on end. Someone was watching her.

                She glanced around but saw a regular high school classroom; the serious students paying attention, the spaced out ones, and the ones falling asleep. Washed out yellow walls filled with encouraging posters that didn’t actual encourage anyone. The classroom was in the middle of the school building so there were no windows. No one could be looking at her.

                Jessica shivered again and rubbed her arms.

                “What’s wrong?” Jane asked in a voice full of concern.

                “What? Oh, nothing. Just cold. Forgot my jacket,” she replied quickly, not wanting to worry her friend.

                Jane turned her withering stare on Jessica. She shifted in her seat and avoided Jane’s straight blue gaze. She didn’t like it when Jane looked at her with that stare. It was like she saw right through her into her mind, or even her soul. Gingers.

                But Jane didn’t let up on her intent look and after a couple more minutes Jessica sighed, defeated, “Just thought someone was watching me.”

                “Why would you think that?”

                “I don’t know. It’s been a weird morning.”

                Jane raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

                “Gosh, why do you torture me like that?” Jessica couldn’t lift one eyebrow and whenever Jane did she felt inferior.

                “ ‘Cause I’m a ginger. I have no soul,” Jane parroted.

                “You’re not even a real ginger,” Jessica retorted.

                “Excuse me? Who is the one that’s been wanting to help me gain a soul?”

                Jessica glared at her friend whose hair, in all actuality, was dyed. “You win, this time.” While, in all actuality, Jane won every time. Jessica paused, unsure of how to begin, “This morning I woke up on the floor, with my curtains open. I never do either of those. I don’t know. It seems silly but I’ve been paranoid since then. Since I can’t figure out how it happened is why I’m so worried. Probably.”

                “That is weird. But I wouldn’t let it bother you,” always the optimist, Jane. Never thought about a care in the world, just like her boyfriend. Even her mismatched clothes reflected this fact. “After all, isn’t your life going pretty well right now? Senior projects are over, we’re a few months away from graduating and you _finally_ got together with your childhood friend and longtime crush.”

                Jessica blushed a deep red, “H-hey!” To mention that _now_ of all times presented a fatal blow to her psyche and argumentative powers.

                “What?” Jane laughed. “We’re all glad it happened. We’ve been waiting long enough.”

                Jessica’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, if that was possible. “Ah, shut up,” she mumbled.

                “I mean, you guys are the cutest couple ever. The handsome track player and the shy, cold beauty of the school. It’s a perfect match.”

                “Jane! Stop!” Jessica moaned.

                Jane just laughed at her and Jessica hid her red face by putting her head in her arms on the desk.

_Cool beauty, yeah right,_ she thought. _She’s making that up. She really doesn’t have a soul._

                Regarding the other featured person—the brown haired, star of the track team and childhood friend—that would be Luke. Her now boyfriend of six months. She blushed even more thinking about it.

                Jessica had had a crush on Luke since middle school. They had grown up together—meeting in the third grade—so it had been a shock to her when she realised in her last year of middle school that she liked him. She was the tomboy of their group of six friends; she wasn’t the type to fall for anyone. Gradually, she came to terms with her emotions, though she hid them. However, everyone in their group knew soon enough, except Luke.

                Why is it that if someone has a crush on another, everyone around them realises it except the person to whom the feelings are directed?

                The day when Jessica decided ruining a friendship wasn’t worth confessing—after seeing a similar situation with a few acquaintances from middle school—was the day they confessed to each other, quite by accident, six months ago.

                Jessica blushed harder and tried even more to hide her face in her arms. “You _had_ to bring that up, Jane...” she grumbled.

                “Hey,” Jane shrugged, “what are friends good for if not to embarrass you?”

                Jessica groaned, “Just shut up.”

                Jane chuckled at her and turned back to face the board again. Jessica kept her head in her arms and ended up falling asleep in five minutes. An easy feat in the most boring class in all history.

 

“Ms. Mender!” a voice yelled in her ear.

                Jessica groaned. Who was yelling at her? Couldn’t they see she was sleeping?

                “Wake up this instant, Ms. Mender!” the same voice yelled again.

                Jessica blinked open her eyes and straight into the piercing gaze of her teacher. _Oh crap,_ she thought, _I’m in trouble._

                She smiled sheepishly.

                She got detention.

Jessica sighed as she walked down the bleak hallway—despite the extraordinary number of school spirit feel-good posters littering the walls. A few more months to go and she got _another_ detention. From the same teacher. It wasn’t her fault the class covered such dull material to make it hard to stay focused. Or early in the morning. Why did they expect her to pay attention with a lethal combination like that?

                She sighed again, half expecting a little cloud to come appear from her mouth like in a cartoon. Unfair.

                Ever reluctant, Jessica opened the detention classroom’s door. It was a classroom like her first period class, or rather, her detention earning class, in the middle of the school. That meant no windows, not one thing to divert the kids from their punishment, not even the signs that were in every other teacher’s room meant to uplift students’ mood and morale. Only the teacher’s desk and the students’. All the less distractions.

                Jessica hated it, and that her school had almost no windows in the first place—protection against bears and wolves they said: _whatever_. She wanted to be outside, in the fresh air, in the sun, walking through the woods. There _were_ rumors of wolves in the woods, but there always had been. As long as you knew where to go you would be fine. And she was _not_ fine in a crappy ancient school building that would most likely be demolished due to it becoming unsafe in two years’ time.

                She looked up at the ceiling, yearning to see the blue of the sky. Then sighed again and sat down heavily in an empty chair, resting her chin in her hand, staring at nothing in particular.

                What she wouldn’t give to go outside. Or even out of school. Man, her senioritis was getting bad. But, following the rules of the small town where she lived, once out of high school it’d be off to the community college in the next nearby town. After she finished she’d come back and work at Mr. Ross’ printing book shop, get married, grow old and die.

                Welcome to a planned out life! It’s free! Just give us your future!

                That’s why Jessica loved being out in the free air. It gave her a sense of freedom she didn’t have in her everyday life. Especially the woods. They carried a presence of mystery that drew her to them. They gave her the excitement she yearned for in her life. She was forbidden from going there though. That rule stood for everyone, except for the people that had a house there or the hunters. But, gosh, she wanted to do something abnormal. Something unexpected. Something adventurous. Something to get out of this unentertaining melodrama that equaled her life. Even if it that adventure meant just going to the woods on her own. Why hadn’t she already?

                Oh yeah, there were spiders galore in the woods. Those things scared her with their eight legs and eyes. No living creature should have that many appendages. Or have sticky silk-stuff coming out of their rear end.

                Jessica jumped from her reverie because of a hand slamming down on her desk. She looked up at a familiar person with light brown hair and eyes dressed in a sports jacket.

                “Luke! What are you doing?” Luke never, _ever,_ got detention. All the teachers, and students, admired him. He had great grades, was a great athlete, and usually nice to everyone.

                The keyword above is ‘usually’. Luke possessed a short temper. If you got him mad it was hard to calm him. That caused the occasional misunderstandings, most of the time on the track team—he often experienced accusations of having no team spirit. However, Jessica watched how Luke worked—and still did—hard to join the team and to be at the highest level possible. And after being friends for so long she had figured out methods of getting him to come down from a rage-high.

                Luke turned—he had been glaring at a few boys she almost recognised; had she seen them in the hall before?—and looked at Jessica. He shook his head and gave her a small smile, “You’re such an airhead. Pay more attention to your surroundings.”

                “Hey!” Jessica exclaimed, offended at once. She observed her environment quite well! “Am not! Look who got detention for the first time, Mr. Perfect!”

                Luke’s face darkened, but for such a short time Jessica wondered if she had seen it. “Better the first time than, what, your fiftieth?”

                Jessica almost retorted but Luke’s tense stance and the crease in his forehead told her that something was wrong. “Why are you in detention, Luke?” she asked gently.

                Luke frowned, “Ms. Boring.”

                “Oh?” Ms. Boring—whose real name came from French but sounded so much like ‘boring’ that everyone called her that, but only behind her back—was the myths teacher. Anything superstitious or mythical, she taught a class on it. She had a good nature, until you pissed her off, and very stubborn.

_Kinda like someone else I know,_ Jessica thought. In other words, Luke.

                Luke continued on, unaware of her commentary about him. “Today’s class we talked about werewolves and she had the most generalized view _ever._ I tried to offer my opinion about them, but we wound up in an argument instead. It ended with me calling her close-minded and stupid and with her giving me detention,” he glowered.

                Jessica found it impossible to bottle up a short laugh. “Sorry. That’s so like you.”

                He glared halfheartedly at her and then smiled the tiniest bit, part of his foul mood forgotten. It made her smile more. “I suppose it was. But I couldn’t help it. When someone slanders werewolves I can’t stand back and just let them do it.”

                Jessica tilted her head, “Why are you so sensitive about them? They may not be even real. I’ve looked up a lot about them and even I’m still not sure yet.”

                “Because—”

                “Everyone take your seats!” Luke got interrupted by a loud booming voice. It was the teacher in charge of detention. Luke took a seat in front of Jessica and she sighed once again. The punishment from hell was about to start.

                “Now, here is the deal!” the P.E. teacher, Mr. Gough, yelled, as per his custom. “Since y’all are stupid you get to spend an hour here instead of going home! These are the rules! One—no sleeping! Two—no talking! Three—no leaving till your time is up!  Any questions?”

                No one dared to speak.

                Mr. Gough nodded, “Good! Now sit down and shut up!” Regardless of the fact the students hadn’t moved or spoken since he came in he gave them a quick harsh, analyzing stare before sitting down at the teacher’s desk in front. He put his feet on the desk and pulled out a taoblet and proceeded to tap away on the screen.

                Jessica sighed for what must have been the tenth time in one hour. She took a sheet of paper out of her bag and wrote a quick note on it. Since Mr. Gough only had eyes for his table she tossed it onto Luke’s desk. _So what happened in his class?_

                He read it, dug into his own bag for a pen, and wrote a long reply. Well, long for Luke, who was brief and to the point. Soon, he handed the note back to her. Jessica began to read. 

>                 “Ms. Boring was talking about werewolves and she only taught the generic view. Like—become a monster without a mind every full moon, hair on tongue, man eating machine beasts view. She also talked about how stupid werewolves are and how the legends about them were the rambling of mad people who wanted attention.
> 
>                 “I didn’t agree so I shared my views with her. We ended up arguing about it, and it ended like I told you earlier.”

                “So what did you say?” Jessica wrote back. She understood what Luke was talking about when he said “generic view” being an avid mythology lover herself, so she had no need for a further explanation for that part. The generic view that existed was what Luke had described, and Jessica didn’t appreciate that perspective either. But she needed to know what Luke thought of werewolves. She found it interesting to hear what people thought of ancient myths nowadays. Plus, it was mysterious new information about someone who had been her friend for almost 12 years. And it may start a new topic of conversation for them; Luke knew about her mythology obsession, but she hadn’t received the same impression from him.

                “I don’t believe werewolves are mindless beasts who kill anyone. I think that they are people whose bodies turn into wolves every night. They’re like regular people who have uncomfortable nights.”

                She wrote back: “So could someone be a werewolf in this room?”

                Jessica watched Luke as he read this message. He had made it sound as if he thought of werewolves as a commonplace occurrence. She wrung her hands together, suddenly apprehensive. They had never talked about something like this—the supernatural. Jessica also had never seen Luke get so worked up about a creature that may or may not be true since he read a fantasy series in middle school. So why was he so adamant about his beliefs on werewolves?

                She glanced at the clock—five minutes less than an hour until they’d be free from detention. Jessica wanted to talk face to face with Luke about why he was upset. Notes only went so far. Particularly when you couldn’t see the other’s face.

                Speaking of notes, it was taking Luke a long time to answer a yes or no question. She glanced back at him.

                Luke sat ramrod straight. His hands clutched the sides of the desk, his knuckles turning white. Jessica craned her neck to an uncomfortable position to see his eyes glazed over and unfocused. But his entire composure spoke of tension. What could be wrong?

                Jessica tapped Luke on the shoulder and whispered, “Hey, hey Luke. What’s wrong?”

                Luke literally jumped at her touch—straight out of his desk. His eyes had lost that glazed look, but focused on something in the distance.

                The P.E. teacher noticed Luke, “Mr. Vilks just what are you doing?” he boomed.

                Luke didn’t look at him. He turned and walked right out the door, with the teacher yelling and threatening him the entire time. But Mr. Gough couldn’t go after Luke because his foot got stuck under the desk, like something out of a story. Once Luke exited the room, the teacher coincidentally freed his foot and stood up fast.

                “Anyone else who tries to leave is going to be beaten until they can’t move!”

                Jessica was pretty sure that was illegal, but she didn’t want to risk it—Mr. Gough’s face was that frightening right now, or anytime—so she stayed seated. All she wanted to do, though, was race after Luke and ask him where he was going. Why had he acted so strange? He had been fine one minute and weird the next. Then gone, just like that. No explanation, no hint of something bothering him besides Ms. Boring. And the sudden change in his behavior was not explainable just because of a disagreement with a teacher. He was up and gone doing who knew what.

                He left one thing behind though.

                The note.  

                Jessica raised herself a little in her desk and snatched up the note she had been passing with Luke as quick as lightning.

                Written on it were two words.

                “Yes. I”


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far! As always, please feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions! I'd love to know what people think about this story.

Jessica stared at the half finished note. Luke thought werewolves sat in this room right now? Really? Maybe that was the reason he got so tense earlier? He realised his own fears? That seemed like the only logical explanation, however shallow it may be.

Now, she wanted to jump up and chase after Luke, rules or no rules. She needed to find out why he disappeared. Luke’s fear of people in the class being werewolves couldn’t have been the thing that made him go stiff. There had to be something else. There must be. She needed to talk to him and ask him. Unconsciously her leg started to bounce up and down repeatedly.

Jessica reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Hiding it from view she quickly sent a message to Luke asking why he had left all of a sudden. Then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Okay, he wasn’t going to answer. That did not equal a good thing. Something _had_ to be going on. She tapped her screen in a nervous tic. What now? She needed to go see Luke. But it was impossible for her walk out of here like him. She needed someone to get her out of here. Her dad? No, he was too busy with work. But someone who would play her dad? Then an idea struck her.

Mark.

He definitely would be willing to play a middle-aged man. _He’s that crazy!_ Jessica quickly opened another text, this one to Mark.

“Mender!” a voice reverberated throughout the room.

Jessica looked up, into the eyes of the dreadful P.E. and today’s detention teacher. She had been caught.

“Hand it over,” he motioned a ‘give it to me now’ hand gesture.

Jessica huffed, her plan foiled, powered down her phone, and gave it to Mr. Gough. Now she _definitely_ wouldn’t get out of here anytime soon. All she was able to do was brood meaningless, worried thoughts.

The sky was almost dark by the time the teacher released Jessica from detention and the lecture about using her phone in school. While appearing guilty she forgot everything Mr. Gough said the moment she stepped through the school doors into freedom. Then she took off running while turning on her phone at the same time. A minute of unending vibrations told her that she had three missed calls from her dad in the last hour. That was odd. He didn’t call people so many times to receive no answer. Her dad called once and then left a message, not repeatedly calling without any hint as to why. There something wrong with everyone today! She called him back, slowing to a jog—one she could maintain for a long time, but still relatively fast-paced—to avoid killing herself by tripping over air or the sidewalk. Whichever proved itself to be the more worthy opponent to her feet. The three years of doing track with Luke in middle school still payed off four years later, no matter how clumsy she became.

“Jessica?” her dad answered. He sounded desperate.

“What’s up, Dad? Why did you call me so many times?” Jessica replied.

“Jessica where have you been?” his voice shook.

“In detention.”

“Gosh, Jessica! Of all times…” he trailed off muttering something incoherent. “Anyways, come back home right now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Please, just listen to me, Jess. Come back home now.”

“I need to see Luke first, alright?”

“What? No! Jess you can’t go see him now. Not tonight. Please come home!”

“What? Why can’t I? He’s my best friend, not to mention my boyfriend! And he acted strange earlier. Something’s happened to him and I need to know what’s wrong.” Why was her dad saying these things?

“What? He’s your what? When did this happen? I know I shouldn’t have let you near him. Come home!” he rambled.

Jessica didn’t want to deal with his rant at the moment though. She needed to talk to Luke, not argue with her father. “What are you saying? I can’t believe you, Dad! I need to find out what’s wrong with Luke so I’m going to his place whether you like it or not!”

“Wait, Jess—”

Jessica hung up on her father, seething. How dare he! He had known about their relationship for a long time. What possible thing caused him to blow up now? It made no sense. Nothing made sense today and it was driving Jessica crazy! She needed to figure out what was going on. _Why is everyone acting so strange today?_ _Including myself_!

Her misplaced anger gave her a burst of speed and she sprinted off down the now-deserted roads through town towards Luke’s house. She had been there once before, but only one path straight to and back from his home made it so she didn’t need to be worried about getting lost. Even if it happened to be in the middle of the woods.

Yes, Luke’s family was one of the rare ones that had a house in the woods. When she had asked him about the wolves and what it was like to have them so close one day Luke had said that he had grown up with them so he hardly noticed the animals. They were a part of his life each day and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The woods were his home as much as his house was. There was nothing to worry about, if one believed him. And Jessica did. So off to the woods she went.

When Jessica reached Luke’s road she slowed down to a walk. The smooth road turned to gravel approximately one hundred yards in—she knew this because one day during the summer she and Luke had measured the length out of sheer boredom— and she didn’t want to fall to her death.

Jessica eyed the forest. The sun had all but gone and its remaining light cast ominous shadows on the ground. The trees resembled hulking monsters ready to launch onto whatever came too close. The opening a mouth to a huge beast that would close the instant she walked through. Then there were also the rumored wolves…

She shook her head to be rid of her rubbish-worthy thoughts. There was nothing to be afraid of, not with plenty of daylight left. She would be able to make it out and back in time. So, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. And then she walked into the darkening woods.

Instantly, the world went dark, the trees blocking out all possible sunshine. She couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. She took out her phone, almost dropping it in her haste, and turned the flashlight on. The dark made her claustrophobic and, to be honest, she found it terrifying to be without any source of light. The things in the shadows scared her, always had since she was a little kid, but she blamed it on an overactive imagination. As _if_ there were real things in the shadows.

Her flashlight wasn’t much; barely enough to keep her from panicking and becoming paranoid. She continued forward with false confidence as the path turned from smooth to rocky.

Thirty minutes into the woods a beep caught her attention. A second later the world was completely black. Her phone had died. She cursed the phone company and their horrible battery life under her breath.

Jessica stood incredibly still as the outlines of shapes made themselves known to her eyes, as if they would attack her if she moved. She prayed silently that her eyes would adjust soon so that she wouldn’t be in total darkness. As the blurry edges of things began to appear she gripped her hands to steady them. _It’s not complete darkness. You’re okay, you’re okay._ Now she _needed_ to make it to Luke’s home. There would be light there. It couldn’t be much further right? Wishing for night vision, Jessica moved on, much slower than before, trying not to disturb the monsters that seemed to be all around her, waiting for their chance to strike.

Twenty minutes later Jessica was entirely and most utterly lost. Everywhere there were trees, with no sign of a path. Maybe karma was paying her back for getting detention? She sighed and collapsed on the ground. Just her luck to get detention, having something causing her boyfriend to freak out, make her dad mad at her, and now to get lost in the dark. This really turned out to be a horrible, weird, terrible day. But what should she do now? Her parents, well her dad, would be extremely mad at her and wouldn’t try to contact her again. But if she didn’t come home until morning would they be worried enough to go look for her? She had never slept over at anyone’s place—an old family rule—so the possible existed that they would. But she couldn’t sit here in the middle of the woods stressing out all night. It was fairly warm for early March so the danger of hypothermia didn’t exist, but staying here wouldn’t be wise either. The darkness plus the trees made her feel claustrophobic and paranoid, and it only grew worse the longer she stayed in one spot. And, for good measure, there might be wolves in these woods.

“Don’t be stupid, Jess,” she chided herself. “You’re not technically in the middle of nowhere. The town is just a couple miles away…in some direction. No wolves have been seen in a while—six months in fact. There aren’t any wolves.”

A loud, long call came from somewhere near her right.

Jessica rose from her seat on the ground, her legs trembling. “Calm down, girl,” her voiced wavered. “That wasn’t a—”

Another howl. A wolf had most unquestionably made that sound.

Jessica spun her head around, her brain going into overdrive. Should she climb a tree? Could wolves climb trees? Could _she_ climb trees? Did wolves have night vision?

The howling grew louder and more constant. She told herself to calm down. To think rationally. A light flicked at the corner of her eye and she whirled towards it. A light! Blessed light! Someone had to be there! She was saved!

Jessica ran to it, trying her best not to trip. As she got closer to the light it multiplied and flicked like a fire. What? She slowed her pace and continued moving more carefully. Someone in the middle of the woods didn’t light multiple fires—that was a big no-no instilled by the Fire Department. The fires were small too. Was whoever started them _trying_ to cause a forest fire? But at least she could see well now. The darkness didn’t seem to be threatening to kill her at any moment. Or the wolves.

She peered through a gap between two intertwined trees to see a large oval clearing encircled and lit by torches mounted low on the tall trees. _That explains all the flickering lights._ On one side of it, to the left of Jessica, a bunch of people in white and black cloaks stood. Their hoods covered their faces and they stood stock still behind a tall figure. Not even wind rustled the fabric. And, only the tall figure was in a different colored cloak. _Silver_. The clothing shimmered and shined in the firelight, making the person’s whole body glow. The light playing off the fabric made it seem as if they weren’t there, only an apparition. A beautiful illusion that would be gone the moment a torch ran dry or someone reached out to touch it.

The empty half of the clearing had an obvious less amount of torches, almost engulfed entirely in shadow. Though no one stood there the space gave off a threatening and foreboding feel, causing Jessica to shiver. In a word, it was eerie.

Loud rattling suddenly surrounded Jessica. A large shadow out of the corner of her eye told her everything she needed to know. _The wolves came back!_ her mind internally screamed. What should she do? She pushed her back to the trees she had been looking through, scraping her sweaty hands on the bark, closing her eyes and praying she wouldn’t be seen.

Just as fast as it came the moving in the bushes stopped and the woods grew deathly quiet. Jessica opened one of her eyes the tiniest crack, expecting to see a wolf crouching, ready to pounce on her and have her for a midnight snack.

The woods around her were empty.

She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the tree for support. That had been close. She almost died! Then a voice from behind her caught her attention. Deep and dark, but it rose and fell gently like an enchanting musical line. Beautiful, with a hint of mystery and a promise of something dangerous.

Curious as to whom the gorgeous tone belonged to, she turned around and peered once more into the clearing. But there was a difference.

_Wolves_ filled the other half of the glade.

Jessica stared at the amount gathered. There had to be at least twenty! They were all different too, like fingerprints. Some of the wolves’ fur consisted of different colored browns, others’ black, and others’ spots of white, grey, and even red. Each pelt unique in their own way, making a beautiful canvas.

The voice from before demanded her attention again, “Hello, most esteemed clan. It is an honour to be gathered with you this evening.”

Jessica turned to her left. The figure in the silver cloak pulled back their hood to expose a striking woman with porcelain skin complemented by rich black hair. Tall, like a model, with a symmetrical oval face. She was also very young, probably around her mid-twenties if Jessica had to guess.

There was something strange about her eyes though. Jessica squinted and tried to look closer, imagining the wondrous colors they might hold. Then she stifled a gasp. The woman’s eyes were completely black! Like a demon’s! No pupil or iris, just solid black!

The woman, or demon, spoke again, and her voice didn’t seem enchanting anymore, but lethal, “If you please, clan head, clan matriarch, I would love to talk face to face,” she smiled, revealing perfect white teeth with sharp, pointed incisors, making her even more demonic. Jessica watched in horror as her cloak shifted and an unidentifiable bulge crawled up her arm and slowly unveiled itself on her shoulder.

A black widow spider. And it a huge one. Even from the distance Jessica stood from the characteristic red hourglass mark could be plainly seen. She shivered. She absolutely _hated_ spiders. Especially the big ones. She moved her eyes back to the side with the wolves to stop herself from screaming.

Out of the group two people stepped to the front. Again, had to stop herself from involuntarily letting out a gasp. She knew these two people. They were Ostana and Adolphus Vilks—Luke’s parents!

Adolphus and Ostana stood side by side in front of the wolves. They showed no fear from the threat behind them, their brown and green eyes staring defiantly at the group across the clearing. As Jessica looked closer she saw the wolves looking at the same thing—the people on the other side of the clearing. They didn’t look like ready to attack Luke’s parents at any second, rather, they seemed on edge because of the people in cloaks. Why did they pick one group of people over another? Didn’t wolves attack indiscriminately like everyone in town said? Just what was going on?

“Let’s make this quick, shall we Paiyten?” Luke’s father said with a sigh.  “There’s a lot of business I must to attend to. The full moon will be upon us shortly and I need to prepare for the upcoming meeting.”

The fiendish lady, Paiyten, smiled again, making a tremor go down Jessica’s spine. “We don’t have to make this long. Just say that you ally yourselves with us and all our business will be settled.”

_Ally? What does she mean by that?_ Jessica thought. Everything happening today wouldn’t compute in her brain, it was all so strange.

Mr. Vilks’ reply stood strong but with weary undertone, “I’ve said this many times when we met each previous time. I have no intention of allying myself with the Wolves of Revenge unless you give me solid evidence of your worth and how my clan can benefit from such an alliance.”

“Tsk. Tsk. So critical. Well, Adolphus, I carry proof for you that may sway your decision.” Paiyten took a step closer, making the wolves growl. “Calm your pets, sir. I’m merely showing you a picture, to keep in confidence, of course.”

Adolphus waved a hand at the wolves behind him and they stopped growling. _How did he do that?_ Jessica wondered. _What does this lady Paiyten meant by pets? Can Luke’s father actually control the wolves? How does that even work in the first place? Is he a wolf whisperer? Is that what they’re called?_ All of her knowledge on thousands of myths flew out the door and left her floundering.

Paiyten waved a hand in the air and a photograph appeared from nowhere. _What? How is that even possible?_ Jessica had completely lost track of this eccentric meeting and stared at the scene in front of her, desperately trying to process everything. Did that woman just use _magic?_

After looking at the picture Adolphus was prominently paler. What had she showed him? Ostana, Luke’s mother, viewed the photograph too, but she didn’t give the same impression.

“Explain yourself,” she commanded. A leader’s voice, not a mother’s. Maybe she could control the wolves too?

“I was about to, Ostana. Please be patient.” Paiyten paused and addressed the whole group of wolves, “What your leaders have seen is a picture of the Reincarnated.”

At once low growls, which sounded like a language, made of low and high sounds, some rougher, others softer, travelled through the pack of wolves. _So Ostana and Adolphus are the leaders of this group of wolves? But_ how?

Paiyten continued, “Yes, the Reincarnated exists. We did not claim her existence as a low, under-handed trick. And, it is true, in her body she holds more power than one can ever dream of possessing. Power to erase lethums from the face of the earth.”

_Lethums?_ _What are those?_ _What on earth is this demon-witch-lady talking about?_ Jessica eyebrows furrowed as her confusion grew.

“As you are aware, the destruction of all lethums is the Wolves of Revenge’s primary goal. We want to harness the girl’s power to destroy all lethums from the world. But what part do you and your clan play? Well, that’s the simple part. For you see, I have reason to believe that the Reincarnated is a resident of the town you dwell near. I would like your assistance in finding her. By helping the Wolves of Revenge we will give you great rewards.”

“This is crazy,” Adolphus said after a moment, regaining his composure. “The Reincarnated, in this town? Or even existing? She is a legend made up by your ancestors to keep your organisation alive.”

“I beg to differ. The Reincarnated exists. And you recognise who she is, judging by your reaction to the picture I showed you.”

“There is no way that girl is the Reincarnated,” Luke’s father continued to protest.

“Think about it, Adolphus,” Ostana said in a soft voice. “Why else would we allow her to stay near him? We knew, subconsciously, that she was a part of us. And she fits the fabled description perfectly. And her father… we’ve had our suspicions for a long time, correct?”

Adolphus fell silent and Paiyten grinned triumphantly, “So, will you help us?” Jessica’s mind had a different question though, well, three. Just what were they talking about? Who was _him?_ And: who was _her?_

Everyone looked at Adolphus, even Jessica. He took a deep breath, preparing to answer. At that moment, a black wolf came up to him and nudged his leg. He looked down and said, with obvious relief, “Excuse me for one moment.” He bent down on one knee to be level with the wolf who put its mouth to his ear. _Is he talking to the wolf? Can a wolf even speak English? That’s impossible, right?_ Jessica’s mind reeled from all of this bizarre information.

The wolf speaking to Adolphus stepped back and Luke’s father straightened. Then the wolf spoke. Out loud. In _English._

“Luke Vilks wishes to make his opinion known.”

Jessica stared at the wolf speaking English. _As if a wolf speaking in English isn’t enough,_ Luke _is here? No way. He can’t be here. Right_? She became so focused on her own thoughts that she just about missed what happened next.

The wolf that had spoken withdrew back into the crowd while another one with light brown fur stepped forward. The wolf looked to Adolphus, who nodded. 'Permission received', it began to change.

The change started with its feet. A grey, flecky smoke enveloped all four of them and started to travel up the rest of its body and grew larger in size until it resembled a bonfire’s smoke, completely shielding the wolf from sight. After a minute the air began to clear. Jessica watched in sheer bafflement as the last wolf features disappeared from an all too familiar face.

Luke.


	4. Chapter Three

Jessica’s whole body froze as she tried to process what she saw. Every part of her stopped moving. The only things in her mind right now were:

            Ostana and Adolphus controlled a pack of wolves.

            A wolf spoke in English.

            The leader of the people, Paiyten, used magic.

            Luke had been a wolf and transformed into a human.

            But even with Jessica at a standstill the meeting she was eavesdropping on continued. The words floated to her, registering in a part of her brain, making her stay updated on this impossible situation when the rest of her body couldn’t.

            Paiyten glared at Luke and Luke glared straight back. “What does a human-lover like him offer to this conversation that won’t contain bias?” she sneered.

            Luke responded coldly, “This entire ‘conversation’, as you claim it to be, is prejudiced towards the viewpoint _you_ want. That is why my opinion as a ‘human-lover’ is important.” He paused, “I also don’t expect you to cover your other goal and how the Vilks clan plays into it, but that is not the issue at this moment.”

            “What are you implying, boy?” Paiyten’s voice became low and dangerous.

            “Nothing, nothing,” Luke waved off the accusation, “All I am saying is that I hold the belief that you are hiding something. Putting my suspicions aside, I don’t think joining your organisation is the best decision for the Vilks clan to make. What have the lethums ever done to us? They merely live their lives. Is it not enough for us to drive them out of the clans? What more can we do that wouldn’t hurt us as much as them?”

            Jessica’s brain began to move at normal speed again. Luke was a “human-lover”? Was he called that because he went to a human school? Did that mean others like him that didn’t go to school? Why made Luke different? What even _was_ Luke?

            “Also, how can the pack running around town help you find the Reincarnated, if they exist? Do you want the people of the town to form a massive hunt for us? A wolf hunt has been on the minds of the townspeople for a year now. Large amounts of wolves suddenly appearing would cause only grief. Large amounts of strangers coming to town would cause only distrust. In short, helping you would cause the clan tragedy.”

            Jessica tried to interpret what Luke was saying. Clans? Wolves? Wolf hunt? Strangers? Suspicions? Mistrust?

            Suddenly, it clicked. Why did it take her this long to figure out?

            Luke was a werewolf.

            These “lethums” and werewolves were somehow enemies.

            Paiyten wanted Luke and his family to join their organisation called the Wolves of Revenge to find “The Reincarnated” and get rid of the “lethums”.

            Luke didn’t want to join them and was trying to persuade everyone else not to.

            _What?_ the voice in her mind echoed around an empty brain that wasn’t capable of comprehending what the people below were saying.

            Jessica refocused her attention on the secret meeting in front of her. She could worry about the peculiar details later.

            Paiyten was still glaring at Luke and the spider on her shoulder quivered. An ice cold wind swept through the trees, making the torches flicker, perilously close to being gusted out.

            “Be careful of what you say, Luke Vilks,” Paiyten’s replied in a tone as cold as the blowing wind. “Just because you are the clan leader’s son does not mean you are safe from harm.”

            Luke smiled. It gave off animpression of pleasantness on the surface but didn’t reach his eyes, which resembled hard, unforgiving stone.

            “I am all too aware of _that,_ Paiyten.”

            The air cracked with tension as the two continued to glower at each other.

            “Luke,” Ostana’s voice broken the tension like a hammer. “Step back.”

            Luke did as his mother said and stepped in line with his parents. Unconsciously, Jessica took a step forward as he stepped backwards. _Crack!_ Her foot landed on a twig! The sound echoed in the quiet forest. Jessica stopped moving. The eyes of almost everyone in the group—except for the cloaked figures behind Paiyten—turned in her direction. She held her breath, waiting.

            “Luke,” Adolphus said, his statement containing unspoken directions.

            Adolphus’ son nodded and said, “Peter, Lucia, with me,” in the tone of a leader. He walked toward the trees. Two wolves, one black with splotches of grey and the other a rusty red, broke away from the group and followed him. Were they coming after her? Had they found her already? Could it be possible they had snuck behind her, ready to pounce at this very moment? What should she do?

            Jessica did the only thing her panic-stricken mind was capable of thinking—she ran.

            She ran, not caring about direction, not caring about the scratches appearing on her arms, not caring about the darkness. Now she only cared about getting out of the forest, and to not die. That’d be nice, too. At this moment, those two things were all that mattered.

            Jessica collapsed onto her hands and knees breathing hard. Running at top speed in the middle of the woods was not a good idea because of the extra effort she spent to avoid twigs and branches that threatened to trip her. Also, she had never been good at short distant sprints; in track she ran long distance races. She took huge gasps of air, trying to catch her missing breath. Surely she put enough distance between her and that strange meeting to be safe. She might be able afford a little rest.

            A branch rustled near her and she jerked her head up. Was it those two wolves? Maybe Luke? _No_ , she shook her head, _it can’t be him_. _I ran far enough away to make it hard for Luke or the other wolves to find me._ _Didn’t I?_

            More rustling branches. Closer now. Jessica tried to stand up, but her legs had gone numb and she fell back to her knees. She prayed for the noise not to be a wolf. How did one react when faced with a wolf? How would she defend herself in her current numb-leg state? She looked at the wood surrounding her. Would a chunk of wood make an adequate weapon? But, after a quick examination of the trees, she found no free pieces, and she doubted her ability to break off a healthy branch. She needed to do something; she didn’t want to die.

            Bushes moved right next to her, and she held her breath. A low growling sounded. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no._ Jessica stared at where the sound came emanated. A pair of yellow eyes looked back at her. _Oh no._ Those belonged to a _wolf_. Jessica was _dead_. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t run away. All she could do was stare at those two bright yellow eyes.

            The owner stepped out. It was the red wolf that left the secret meeting before Luke. She growled at Jessica. Wait, she? Why had that pronoun appeared in her head? She had no way of knowing the wolf’s gender. But the wolf before her somehow _felt_ like a female. There wasn’t any other way to explain how she knew.

            The she-wolf approached her with a careful pace, snarling. She held up her hands in a gesture of surrender, whispering for the wolf to not attack and she meant no harm. The wolf either didn’t understand or didn’t care because she kept advancing.

            “Please,” Jessica murmured, terrified. “Please don’t hurt me.”

            The wolf stopped growling and advancing. She tilted her head, looking like a puppy. Jessica stared, more frightened by this action then endeared. Was she planning the best way to attack her? What would the she-wolf do?

            Suddenly, a loud bark came from behind her. She turned her head slowly, not wanting the she-wolf to attack because of an abrupt movement, expecting another wolf.

            It was Luke.

            The two gaped at each other for a long moment, shock written on both their faces. But Luke recovered an instant later and stepped in between the she-wolf and Jessica.

            “Go back,” he said, commanding, not suggesting. “I know this intruder. I will question her and bring her back to the house myself.”

            The wolf’s head dipped in acknowledgement and turned around, disappearing into the undergrowth. Jessica let out the breath of air she had been holding.

            Her tension came back when Luke and her locked gazes again. His eyes were hard and icy, so unlike their usual warm chocolate.

            “What are you doing here?” Luke’s voice twice as hard as his eyes.

            “I- I,” Jessica stuttered, “I was worried about you so, so I was on my way to see you.”

            Luke’s eyes softened and Jessica felt her shoulders relax a miniscule amount. He sighed, “You shouldn’t’ve come. It’s far too dangerous here. Especially since….”

            “Luke?” she asked. “What is going on?”

            His eyes turned hard again and shook his head, “Not here, not now. I promise, I’ll explain everything later. First, let’s get you home.” He held out his hand and she cautiously took it, afraid he would turn into a wolf at any second. She wobbled a little as he pulled her up and he put a hand on her arm to help her regain her balance.

            “Sorry,” she mumbled. “My legs are still kind of numb.”

            “It’s fine,” he said at the same volume. “But try to hurry. We need to get out of the forest before Lucia gets back to the clan house and we don’t show.” Luke confidently started to walk through the woods. The opposite way Jessica had been going. She wondered how he knew where to go in this massive forest, and in the dark. And that was only _one_ of the questions doing somersaults in her head. What was a lethum? Who were the “Wolves of Revenge”? What was the Reincarnated? Had Paiyten performed magic? Were Luke and his parents _actually_ werewolves or was she fooling herself? How had that wolf spoken English? But she swallowed all of these burning questions, keeping silent, limping alongside Luke into the shadowy trees.

            An awkward ten minutes later Luke and Jessica emerged from the woods onto a small back street. The town was eerily quiet and only a few lightposts—most of which flickered—present on the street, making the pathway more shadow than light. Jessica moved a tiny bit closer to Luke, expecting to see pairs of yellow eyes appear out of the darkness and a large monstrous wolf to jump out. She shivered. Then she remembered that Luke may be a werewolf as well; she made to move to her original position, but the darkness made for an intimidating opponent.

            “Are you cold?” Luke spoke for the first time since leaving the forest.

            “No,” she responded. “Just… shook up.”

            Luke let out a dry laugh, “That’s to be expected after happening upon a secret meeting, seeing witch-magic, and a werewolf Change before your eyes.”

            “And almost getting attacked by a wolf,” she added.

            “And almost getting attacked by a wolf,” Luke amended. “Though Lucia wouldn’t have killed you, or even hurt you if you didn’t resist. We wanted to bring you back to the clan house alive. Though, of course I won’t drag you there. We’re going back to town.”

            “Clan house?”

            “Where my family lives, the Vilks clan. You’ve been there once before. Did you ever wonder why the house was so big?”

“I don’t remember… my brain isn’t doing much thinking right now.”

“Well, the reason the house is huge, even by human standards, and without being added onto by magic, is because it must be. The Vilks clan is the largest of the werewolf clans in North America. Have to have some place to keep them all.”

            “You mean there’s other werewolves in the world that aren’t a part of your family?” _God, how many more are in only the country?_

            “Don’t speak as if others not being in my family is such a horrible thing. There’s good and bad in every clan. My clan is no exception. Probably more who are bad than good. We’re no different from regular people. In that respect.”

            “And your parents… who are they?” _Who are they really? Who are you? Are you still Luke, my best friend, my boyfriend?_

            “They’re the leaders of the clan. Adolphus and Ostana Vilks, as you know. My dad makes all the decisions but my mother is the real brains.”

            “Who were the people you were meeting with? And what were you talking about, exactly? What made your dad look so shaken? Just what is going on?”

            Luke sighed and his shoulder dropped, “There’s a lot to explain. And it’s late. I promise I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow after school. Maybe over a smoothie?”

            Jessica smiled, “If I can wait until then.”

            “Thanks,” the long trek ended as her house came into view. “Good night, and… I’m sorry.”

            “For what?” they reached the doorway.

            “That you had to see everything like that. It was the worst way possible to show someone my hidden side of the world. So, I’m sorry.”

            “Oh,” was all Jessica could say. “Well, good night.” She turned to go inside her house.

            “Jessica, wait.” Luke’s voice stopped her feet. “Tell your dad you didn’t find me and walked home by yourself. Once I explain everything we’ll talk to him together. Okay?”

            She nodded.

            “And remember to lock your doors,” Luke walked away, back to the forest and to his clan. Of werewolves.

            Warily, she nodded assent again—even though Luke wasn’t watching—and went into her house. She walked up to her room, tiptoeing all the way. She glanced at her parent’s door—shut tight—and opened her door slowly, then stepped into her sanctuary, mission accomplished.

            “You’re finally home.” _Boom!_ Sanctuary broken. Her dad sat on her bed.

            “Hey, Dad,” she tried to play nonchalant.

            “Where have you been? I told you to come home right away.”

            Jessica braced herself; she hated lying. “I tried to go over to Luke’s house. I got lost, though, and decided to head back after a while.”

            “Did you talk to him?”

            “No.”

            “Did you see anyone strange? Staying in the shadows? Possibly with a hood on?”

            _Yes, yes, and yes._ She gulped. “No, no one like that.”

            Her dad gave her a suspicious look and she had to contain the urge to shift her feet. “Are you sure?”

            “Yes.”

            He let out a breath, “Good.” He stood up and stared at the covered floor, “You really need to clean up in here. It’s like a mine field; not sure where to step.”

            Jessica forced a laugh. “Maybe one day I will. When Mom threatens me again; if she hasn’t given up yet.”

            “I doubt that,” her dad laughed as well, creeping his way to the door. “You know her, everything has to be spotless.” He finally reached Jessica and gave her a quick hug, “I love you, Jess. I’m glad you’re back safely.”

            Feeling sick to her stomach, Jessica returned her dad’s action. “Love you too, Dad.”

            He smiled at her one more time before leaving her room. She sat on her bed with a sigh, dropping her bag on the floor—how had she managed to hold onto it all this time? That had to be the worst lie she ever told her dad, especially with him being concerned enough to stay up waiting for her. But why was he this upset over one night? Sure, he was over protective, but definitely not one to work himself up about her staying out late one night more than the rest. So, why? Did he know about the meeting that she saw tonight? He couldn’t. How was that even possible? It was unfathomable.

            But then, she never expected her boyfriend to be a werewolf.

            Jessica sighed, covered her eyes with her arm, and fell back onto her bed. Too many thoughts tumbled and tossed through her mind. She wasn’t able to make heads or tails of what she stumbled upon not even half an hour ago. Werewolves genuinely existed. They were real. A mythical creature she only had seen in books resided on earth. And _prospered._ How had no one discovered them before now? Why was Luke one of them? Had he always been? _Seriously, Jess? Obviously he always has. His entire family consists of werewolves!_ Besides that fact, had that Paiyten person, in all actuality, used magic? _Another impossible thing exists._ And, again, what, or who, were lethums? What did the “Wolves of Revenge” want with them? Were lethums somehow important? But why? Why was any of this happening?

            With all these thoughts chasing each other around and around, it took a long time for her to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and anything you believe could be helpful to make it even better.


	5. Chapter Four

When Jessica next opened her eyes she was cold, wet, and sitting on something hard that should not be sat upon. She felt as if someone was mining away at the back of her head. Standing, a wave of pain racked her entire body making her wobble on her feet, and she braced herself on the brick wall beside her, “Ow. What the heck?”

            She looked around as something brushed her cheek and left it stinging. Rain. Up above, she saw a sky as black as ink and rain pelting down without mercy. Not a warm, nice rain, but an icy rain more similar to hail than water. She stood at the entrance to an alleyway, tall, imposing, brick buildings on either side of her. The buildings didn’t have any windows and seemed void of life, boarded and barren. No cars sat on the street. Wherever she happened to be now, no one lived here.

            With this fact, panic started to set in. Jessica didn’t know where she was. She had fallen asleep in her room, so how did she get _here_? Did someone kidnap her? Her breathing grew harsh and quick, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Why did her kidnappers leave her in an alley? What if they left for only a short time and were coming back to kill her at this very instant? Oh gosh, she would die once they came back! After narrowly avoiding death by wolf she was about to experience death by kidnapping!

            Her hands’ motions on her arms got faster as she tried to prevent hyperventilation. _Calm down, calm down, calm down. Figure out what you can do one step at a time. Are you hurt?_ Jessica did a mental scan. Besides a few bruises and an aching head she wasn’t hurt. How nice of her kidnappers. Her breathing began to grow regular again. _No? Good. Now, do you have your phone?_ She put her hands in every single pocket—nothing. _That’s all right. If you find someone you can ask to use theirs and call home. Mom and Dad must be worried by now. How long have you been unconscious? It has to be at least a day for it to be night again._

Panic crept in once more when Jessica realised she didn’t know how long she had been here. It might take weeks or even months to reach this place, too! Where was she? When was she?

            “Jessica!” a voice called out.

            She spun around and stared at the only other living human being approaching her at a run from down the street. Could he be one of the kidnappers?

            “Stay-stay away!” she yelled and backed away from him. He must be! Why else would he be here?

            The boy slowed his pace and looked at her with his head tilted. The action made him resemble a giant golden puppy and gave Jessica a strange urge to hug him. She shook her head to push the notion out of her head. He might be dangerous! “Jessica? What’s wrong? It’s just me.”

            “I-I don’t know you! Who are you?”

            He looked as confused as she felt, “It’s me, Isaac.”

            “Isaac?” Jessica echoed. As she looked at the teen standing in front of her he gave off an odd aura of familiarity. His short blonde hair was plastered against his face and blue, kind eyes looked at her with concern. He wasn’t tall but had at least a few inches on her and was drenched from the ice-rain. Examining his appearance, she realised her own soaked clothes and skin. “Isaac,” she said with more confidence as she accepted the chance she had met him before. An idea pervaded her mind saying the boy was her friend… and her crush?

            Jessica examined that peculiar thought. No, Luke was her crush, her boyfriend, and her best friend. She didn’t recognise this boy… but, at the same time, she did.

            Isaac smiled at her and her stomach got butterflies. She ignored the sensation. “What’s going on?” she asked, deciding to accept the strange trust she had in the boy, Isaac. “Why am I in an alley?”

            His smile faded. “Right. We need to keep moving. Medea, Paiyten and the rest will be here soon. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and took off running down the street, leaving Jessica with no option but to follow him through the blistering rain.

            Medea and Paiyten. Those names sent a chill down her spine—and not because of the weather. But why? She knew no one with a name like Medea, and Paiyten was such a common name it might be anyone. Who were these people and why were they chasing her and Isaac?

            “They want to kill you,” a voice in her head whispered.

            “What?” she asked. That couldn’t be right. Why would someone want to kill her? And since when did she have voices in her head? Was she going crazy? Given her current situation, it didn’t seem implausible.

            “I said, we should try to lose them in the alleys.” Isaac looked back at her. Did he say something earlier? Did he understand why someone would want to kill her? Before she could ask he exclaimed, “Let’s go!” and dragged her down an alley at a run. Weaving their way through boxes, garbage, dumpsters, and hissing alley cats left her no time to ponder her strange predicament.

            The storm above their heads worsened, the clouds roiling and fighting each other as if in the Roman Coliseum. They gathered in a swirling circle far ahead of the pair of teens.

            Suddenly, a shot fired, loud enough to be heard over the pelting rain. A bullet slammed itself into a crate beside her right leg and made Jessica scream involuntarily.

            Isaac looked over his shoulder and the sight made his face pale, “Run! Faster!” As they ran _even_ faster Jessica glanced behind them.

            Black jackets and black pants. Three men ran after them, dressed in full suits and carried silver, heavy-looking briefcases. As they detected her gaze one smirked and twisted the handle of his briefcase. The thing turned into a gun! One minute it was a regular briefcase and the next it was a pistol? _How?_ Why did impossible things keep happening to her?

            Jessica spun her head away and screamed to Isaac, “He’s going to shoot!” Because what else would you do with a gun?

            Isaac pulled her arm hard, sending her flying ahead of him.

            One shot.

            Two screams.

            Jessica screamed in fright, Isaac in pain. A hole now in his leg. He stumbled, but caught himself and, pushing Jessica forward, kept running. But now he limped, and she had to support him, dragging him along as they continued to try to escape with their lives.

            “Who are they?” Jessica yelled. “Why are they shooting at us?”

            “What are you saying?” Issac’s voice one notch below screaming. “Doesn’t matter, though! Just keep running!”

            Jessica followed his orders and ran, trying not to fall, down endless alleys with Isaac in tow, taking random turns and praying they wouldn’t find themselves face to face with a dead end—literally and figuratively.

            Isaac’s breathing got heavier, and soon he was putting his whole weight on her to stand and move his legs. He wouldn’t be able to continue on like this for much longer. It would get them both killed if they kept trying to run away.

            “Isaac! We need to find a safe place for you to hide and rest!”

            He shook his head and gasped for breath, “There is none.” A pause to pant for air. “They’ll find us anywhere.” Another pause, “Keep going.”

            Not convinced, but not knowing another solution, Jessica re-started their desperate flight.

            Then skidded to a stop.

            Isaac crashed into her, and even in his weakened state his sheer body weight sent them both collapsing onto the pavement. They picked themselves up from the ground, flinching at scrapes and bruises. “Why’d you stop?” he asked, still short of breath, and stood on one leg.

            Jessica pointed to a brick wall blocking their path. “That’s why.”

            Isaac stared at the wall for one full minute before saying, “I have an idea.” He hobbled toward the wall, crouched, and cupped his hands. “Here. I’ll help you up and then you can pull me over.”

            Jessica hesitated. His leg was hurt. Could he even lift her? Or make it over the wall? “But… your leg…”

            “I’ll be fine. Come on, we need to hurry!”

            Reluctantly, she placed one foot into Isaac’s hands. She didn’t want to hurt him more, but she didn’t have any ideas to get over the wall and they didn’t have the time to brainstorm. She raised her hands above her head, ready to grab the top of the obstacle.

            “All set?”

            “Yes.”

            “Okay. Ready. One, two. Three!” Jessica launched herself from the ground with Isaac helping her farther into the air. Her hands barely hit the top, and she dug her fingernails into the mortar, scrambling to get a decent grip. With considerable effort, using muscles she didn’t think she possessed, Jessica pulled herself onto the top of the brick wall. Then she reached down to Isaac.

            “Come on!”

            He grabbed her hand as another shot rang through the night, striking near Jessica’s fingers, pieces of bricks flying everywhere. Isaac winced as a shard lodged itself in his cheek. She pulled harder, trying to lift him, but Isaac was dead weight.

            _Bang!_

            “Ahhh!” Isaac screamed as a bullet found him. Jessica glanced up to see the suited men running, guns drawn. Her arms began to shake. “Isaac! Hurry!” she cried.

            His grip grew slack on her wrist and she felt him slip out of her hold. She latched onto his wrist with desperate hands.

            “No! What are you doing?” she stared at him, eyes wide and fearful.

            “I’ll distract them. Run.” He looked up at her, despair in his gaze. They both understood that neither of them would make it through the night if Jessica didn’t leave Isaac now. And even if she did, both of them may still end up dead.

            But she couldn’t leave him.

            “No! I won’t leave you!”

            “You have to,” he stated firmly. And there it was. The truth that they both knew, but Jessica didn’t want to accept it.

            Seeing her hesitation, Isaac wrenched his wrist from her hand permanently, crumpling on the ground. Jessica was only able to watch as he gathered himself and stood tall to face the oncoming assassins. He looked up at her and smiled weakly, then yelled, “Go! Now!”

            “I love you!” she exclaimed before she was aware of what she said. No, that wasn’t true. She loved Luke. Why had she said that? She didn’t know this guy! Much less love him! But she had said it, and she couldn’t take it back even if she wanted. For some reason, she loved this boy—but these weren’t her feelings, they were someone else’s. Yet the emotions were Jessica’s as well. Just thinking about it confused her, but she knew without a doubt of their truth, even if it wasn’t herself speaking.

            Isaac’s eyes brightened a little despite his terrible fate, “I love you too, Jessica. Don’t forget that.” His face hardened, “Now go!”

            After one more second’s pause Jessica jumped off the wall and sprinted through the alleys once more, tears blocking her vision.

            Three shots.

            One scream. Full of the sorrow and despair of those left behind.

           

For the second night in a row Jessica woke up and bolted straight in her bed; her breathing shallow and shaky, her limbs responding to her slowly and unsteadily. She tried to control her breathing, taking deep gasps of air, willing herself to calm down. As her body stopped shaking and her mind cleared, the dream faded, only the impression of despair and incredible loss echoing in her room, in her bones. She never felt so scared, so terrified, so confused, and so heartbroken.

            Jessica didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of an explaining chapter. If you've got questions let me know and I'll try to explain better. Also, please tell me what you think of Ashlee, Dillon, and Jane. I hope I did a well enough job of explaining a bit of their characters in this chapter.
> 
> Always would love to hear comments and critiques!

The next day passed in a haze for Jessica. She went through the motions, going to school and faking attention in classes. At lunch she sat outside with her group of friends—Luke, Mark, Jane, Ashlee, and Dillon, although Luke wasn’t there at the moment—under the tree where they always hung out. She absentmindedly picked at her lunch, not hungry. Her friend Ashlee came up to her.

            “Jessi? Are you doing all right?” she asked.

            Jessica shook her head and smiled up at her friend, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and blue eyes were full of concern. “I’m fine. Just a little distracted.”

            Dillon appeared over Ashlee’s shoulder, “You sure? ‘A little distracted’ doesn’t mean picking at the grass with your fork.” He pointed to her hand which held her fork and was indeed stabbing the grass.

            “Oops,” Jessica blushed, embarrassment. “But really, I’m fine, guys. Thanks, though.”

            Ashlee and Dillon didn’t appear convinced though. They sat down on both sides of her, Ashlee on her left and Dillon on her right.

            “Now Jessica,” Dillon began.

            “Tell us what is going on,” finished Ashlee.

            “Something is definitely wrong with you.”

            “And since we’re your friends we want to help you.”

            “So why don’t you tell us why you look like you’re about to fall asleep at any minute.”

            Jessica sighed, “Seriously, what is with you guys and finishing each other’s sentences? You aren’t even twins.”

            “We’re friend twins,” Dillon said.

            “Friend twins? What in the world…? Ah, whatever. I don’t care what you two do any more. Though sometimes, I swear, you’re weirder than Jane and Mark.”

            “Hey! I take offence to that!” called Mark.

            Jessica laughed, “Well you shouldn’t!” Then she spoke to Ashlee and Dillon again, “I’m all right, guys. I just didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all.”

            Dillon placed a hand on her leg in a comforting gesture, “Well if you ever need someone to talk to we’re all here for you, okay?”

            “Okay,” she smiled at him. “Thanks for checking on me, though. I appreciate it.”

            “No problem!” Ashlee said, a huge smile on her face. “I’m just glad you’re doing fine. And it’s Friday! You shouldn’t be so upset. But where’s Luke?”

            “Oh, he said he had a track and field meeting today so he won’t be coming.”

            “Well, that’s too bad. I wanted to talk to him.”

            “Don’t go stealing my boyfriend, now, Ashlee,” Jessica teased.

            Ashlee gasped and covered her heart with her hand, “I would never dream of it! Plus, I have my sights set on someone else.”

            Jessica scooted closer to her, and Dillon stood up, wandering to where Jane and Mark sat, “I’m leaving this conversation now. I don’t need girl drama.”

            “Bye, bye!” Jessica exclaimed in a too-high voice. “Jane, come over here! Ashlee is about to tell us who she’s crushin’ on!”

            “Really?” Jane picked herself off the ground and joined the two girls. “Now, spill.”

            “Ah, guys. You can’t expect me to tell you! It’s a secret!” she placed a finger to her lips.

            “No, girl!” Jane said. “You got yourself into this mess and the only way you’re getting out is to tell us who you like. So, guy or girl?”

            “Nope. Not doing it.”

            “Why you little cheerleader!” Jane attacked Ashlee, tickling her. At once, Ashlee was laughing hard.

            “Stop, stop! You know how ticklish I am! This isn’t fair!” she cried.

            “I’m not going to stop until you tell me who you like!”

            Jessica laughed with everyone at her friends’ antics. This should be her life. She shouldn’t worry about the strange dreams she was having—even though she couldn’t remember them—or about what she saw last night and what Luke might tell her today.

            Her life should always be full of laughter like this, and that was the way she wanted it to stay. She would worry about what might be happening to her life later.

 

            “Jessica! Jessica! Hello!” a voice called out to her from the darkness that was sleep. And, although she didn’t want to, she forced her head from its resting place and her eyes open. Blinking a couple times she focused the shards remaining of her attention on the person sitting across from her and who had brought her from her slumber—Luke.

            She grinned, “Can I sleep for a few more minutes before you overload my brain? Please?”

            “You’ve been sleeping all day!” he protested. “Why on earth are you so tired?”

            “Didn’t sleep well last night,” she shrugged.

            Luke eyed her with suspicion, “We both know you suck at lying, Jess. Why didn’t you sleep last night? Was it because of what you saw yesterday?”

            She shook her head, “No it wasn’t because of that. I had a nightmare. I couldn’t fall back asleep. That’s all.”

            Luke’s eyes became sympathetic. Jessica hoped that he’d notice she didn’t want to talk about the dream—mainly because she didn’t remember it—and he wouldn’t push the topic.

            He said, “I’m sorry,” and the two fell into an uneasy silence, both nursing the promised smoothies on the table in front of them. Then Luke sighed, glanced around for anyone who could overhear their conversation—though that was improbable because he had chosen a booth with the less amount of people around it and in the farthest corner of the café to sit at—and locked eyes with Jessica. She jerked back a little at the intensity of his gaze.

            “Let’s start.”

            All Jessica could do was nod, tension filling her entire being. This was it. Now she would finally get the answers to her questions.

            Luke took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. He began, “What you stumbled upon last night was one of the many meetings my clan, the Vilks, has had with an organisation called the Wolves of Revenge.”

            “One of many?” Jessica interrupted.

            He nodded, “Yes. The Revengers—what we call them for short, they don’t like the nickname though—have wanted the werewolves to join them for a long time.”

            “So you and your family _are_ werewolves,” she confirmed.

            “Yes. Didn’t we established that last night?”

            “We did. It’s just,” she paused. “Just hard to wrap my brain around. I mean, you’re a creature I’ve only read about in books! I never thought you would be real.”

            “Well, prepare yourself because there is more out there than just werewolves. You saw Paiyten create a wind, right? That was—”

            “Magic,” she said.

            “Correct. Paiyten is the leader of the Revengers and a witch. She is pure evil.”

            “Evil? Why?” despite her eyes and the creepy spider, to Jessica she hadn’t _seemed_ evil.

            Luke sighed, “That’s my opinion. Others don’t agree with me and see the Revengers as a force for good. But the Revengers are evil in my eyes because of what they want.”

            “Which is?” Jessica urged.

            “Officially, they want to destroy every lethum.”

            “They want to kill them?”

            Luke nodded, “That’s the reason their organisation was created. To create strife between werewolves and lethums. Officially, to destroy all lethums.”

            “Wait, what are lethums?”

            “People who are half werewolf and half human,” he answered simply.

            “Do they turn into werewolves every full moon?”

            “I don’t know. Some do, probably. I’ve never met one because they were driven out of the clans years ago, before I was born. And it isn’t only the full moon when we Change. It’s every night, or earlier if we want.”

            “You mean, you can change into a wolf at will?”

            “Yes, that’s right.”

            “Can you show me?” she asked eagerly.

            Luke laughed—a real laugh—and it seemed to diffuse part of the tension that had gathered in the air. “Only if I wanted to stay a wolf until tomorrow morning.”

            “So you can’t change to human when you want.” It was a statement, not a question.

            “Yup. It sucks sometimes.”

            Jessica remembered what she saw the night before, “How did you change back at the meeting then?”

            “Did you not look at the time when you got home? It was well past midnight. Technically morning.”

            “Then why did no one else Change?”

            “It’s a conscious decision. We make the choice to change into humans. Some are a wolf all the time.”

            “Do you have to go through that every night? By when?”

            “When the sun sets. But not every night. My late uncle developed a medicine that, as long as we take it before night falls, it will stop us from changing.”

            Slowly, Jessica nodded her understanding. This was a whole lot of information to take in at once, and she didn’t know if she was processing it all correctly. She was in a stupor, listening to the words being spoken but not understanding them. What else could she do, as her best friend explained to her that he was a werewolf, about these Revenger and lethum people? “I think I understand. So what’s the other reason the Revengers—right?—want your family to help them?”

            “They want to shut humans off from the magical world completely. That will effectively give them control over all the species and people in the magical world by choosing who interacts with humans and who does not.”

            Jessica stayed silent. “Wow,” was all she said. This was _way_ too much information.

            “Wow is right. That’s why I don’t want my parents to join them again.”

            “Again?”

            “We were once allied with the Revengers temporarily, but it fell through when they didn’t hold up their end of the deal.”

            “But what if they are trying to make up for what happened by asking you to join them again? Would it be so bad if your family did?” she asked tentatively.

            “Yes!” he exclaimed. Jessica jumped. “Sorry,” he said in a much softer tone. “I don’t want my parents to join the Revengers because if they did all the established clans would have to join them too. Then the Revengers would have almost all the werewolf population under their control, and if they can get one highly influential species what is to stop another race from becoming allied with them, and _that_ would put the entire magical community in their hands without a fight! Heck, they’re almost there already!” Luke’s voice had grown steadily louder and now he was all but yelling. “I won’t allow that to happen!” He slammed his hand on the table, ending his speech and breathing hard.

            Jessica sat there, staring at Luke. His rant had hit her with the full force of a speeding train. The Revengers were bad news. They wanted to take over the entire world—well, the magical one. Not to mention werewolves were real. And witches. And magic. _Sounds like a plot in a bad fantasy novel I’d read,_ she thought bitterly. But she still had unanswered questions. To avert from the current topic she asked, “What is the Reincarnated?”

            Luke took a long minute before he answered, “You mean “who” is the Reincarnated. I guess that’s a bit simpler of an answer than trying to explain werewolf and the magical world’s politics to you when you haven’t even been to any meetings or seen any other creatures.

            “In general, the Reincarnated is a legend that no one is sure exists for real or not. The Revengers claim she does, but the leaders—the ones who invented the legend—are the only people who’ve seen her.”

            “Wait. She? Her? This reincarnate person is a girl?”

            “Yes. The legend says that the Reincarnated _is_ a girl, a lethum too, who has an unfathomable amount of power that gives her the ability to reincarnate every time she dies as the same person each time.”

            “Why do the Revengers want her then?”

            “The only reason _they_ say is because she is a lethum. And they want to kill all lethums so they want to kill her. They’re pissed off at her, too, because she keeps reincarnating as a lethum. So they have to keep killing her.”

            _That is seriously messed up,_ “How do they know what lethum is the Reincarnated? If they reincarnate wouldn’t they be a different person each time? How do they tell?”

            “Well there isn’t a lot of lethums around anymore. They’ve all been hunted down, so the Revengers’ job is a little easier. And since the Reincarnated is a lethum it doesn’t matter who they kill because they want to exterminate them all. Also, the Reincarnated to is supposed to be the same person each time she appears, and to have some kind of special abilities, though the Revengers won’t share the description publicly. They did tell my parents, however, and I kind of happened to overhear the conversation,” he smiled playfully.

            Jessica decided to ignore his last comment, “Really? So you and the Revengers think someone in town is the Reincarnated?”

            Luke’s face grew sombre again, the smile fading away into a hard grimace, “Not just someone. They assume the Reincarnated is _you._ ”

            “Me?” Jessica echoed.

            Luke nodded. “Yes, and they are planning on finding and killing you.”


End file.
